Eat Your Freggies... Here is How!

Are you getting enough freggies into your menu on a daily basis? 

Fruits and vegetables are the mainstay of my diet.  It always surprises me when I hear people say that they just don't seem to get enough and that they struggle with it.

Without going into all the reasons why we should be eating them, I thought I would talk a bit about how to eat enough of them...  give some ideas from my typical day's menu, so that you can get some ideas.  I don't suggest you follow them... they are just examples to show how easy I find it to eat my freggies.

The U.S. Food Pyramid suggests between 5 and 9 servings of fruit and vegetables, for adults, every day. 

So what is a serving?

Most whole fruits are considered 1 serving... apples, pears, peaches, oranges...

Blood Orange

but there are a couple of noteworthy exceptions:

A whole banana = 2 servings
A whole grapefruit = 2 servings

1/4 cup dried fruit such as raisins = 1 serving

1/2 cup fruit juice = 1 serving

For most vegetables 1/2 cup = 1 serving

For leafy green vegetables 1 cup = 1 serving

Tomato sauce can be counted... 1/2 cup = 1 serving
Salsa as well... 2 tablespoons = 1 serving


So let's look at a sample days eats...

Breakfast:

1/2 grapefruit with cinnamon
egg white omelet with 1/2 cup of slivered onions, peppers, mushrooms
2 Tbs salsa on top

Total = 3 servings

After-run protein smoothie:

1 cup spinach
1/2 cup mixed berries
1/2 banana
protein powder
milk

Total = 3 servings



Lunch:

3 ounces baked chicken breast, sliced
1 cup mixed Spring greens
1 tomato, sliced
slivers of mushrooms, green onions,  and cucumber to equal 1/2 cup
dressing of EVOO, vinegar and minced garlic
1 tomato and basil rice cake with 1 wedge Laughing Cow cheese on top
1 glass of fat free milk

Total = 3 servings

Afternoon Snack:

3 ounces edamame, steamed

Total = 1 serving



Dinner:

Pasta with 1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
garlic, onions, peppers, bit of spinach to equal 1/2 cup
1 cup scoop of broccoli slaw

Total = 4 servings..


Evening Snack:

yougurt with 2 Tbs raisins, slivered almonds, cinnamon, and 1/2 apple, diced

Total = 1 serving

Day's Total = 15 servings.

Did you get that?  15 servings.  It really is not hard at all.

If you really have trouble getting in your freggies, you could easily drink 4 ounces of orange or grapefruit juice with  your breakfast, or have 1 cup of ice cold tomato juice as a pre-dinnner cocktail.

Here are some other ways to add more freggies to your day:

• snack on fresh fruit and a handful of nuts instead of protein bars
• use spaghetti squash instead of pasta or noodles for main dishes or soups
• have humms for lunch with a variety of fresh veggies to dip into it
• pile slices of fresh tomatoes on your pizza
• add sprouts, cucumber slices and fresh tomato slices to your sandwiches
• add veggies to your sauces, soups, stews and casseroles
• add cooked veggies or fruit to your scrambled eggs or omelets at breakfast
• keep dried fruit in your desk at work to snack on instead of candy or chocolate
• experiment with different fruit and veggies in your smoothies
• uses fresh fruit on skewers as cocktail garnishes
• make fruit kebabs to grill on the barbecue
• add spinach, bananas, squash or other sweet potatoes to your protein pancake batter

Green spinach pancakes for St.Patrick's Day

 

 

Peach and blueberry smoothie, premixing.

 

 

Spinach and raspberrie smoothie, pre-mixing.

 

 

 



And I urge you to try new kinds of fresh produce as often as you can...  make it an adventure.

So, how many servings do you get on a typical day?

If you don't get 7 to 9, can you think of some ways to eat more?